Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
online rates direct from the website include savings of £20 or more on no-cancel-
ation or no-breakfast bookings.
1 St. John St., Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 2SD. www.mercure.com.
&
01722/327476,
or 800/221-4542 in
U.S. Fax 01722/412761. 68 units. £114-£180 double. Rates include English breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V.
Ame-
nities:
Restaurant; bar; room service.
In room:
A/C (in Privilege rooms), TV, hair dryer, minibar (in
some), Wi-Fi (£5 per hr.).
Wyndham Park Lodge
This appealing Victorian corner villa in a residential
neighborhood offers great-value guest rooms and a friendly welcome just 10 minutes'
walk from the center of Salisbury. The small to midsize rooms are comfortably fur-
nished with Victorian and Edwardian antiques, and have either one double or two
twin beds.
51 Wyndham Rd., Salisbury SP1 3AB. www.wyndhamparklodge.co.uk.
&
01722/416517.
Fax 01722/
328851. 4 units. £50-£75 double; £65-£85 family room for 3. Rates include English breakfast. Free park-
ing. MC, V.
In room:
TV/DVD, hair dryer, Wi-Fi (free).
OUTSIDE THE CITY
Howard's House
This 17th-century dower house, which has been added to
over the years, is the most appealing small hotel and restaurant in the idyllic rural
terrain west of the city; it's popular with shooting and fishing enthusiasts. Much care
is lavished on the decor, with fresh flowers in every bedroom and public room, includ-
ing a cozy, new snug area added in 2010. Set in a tranquil medieval hamlet, the hotel
8
More Prehistoric Standing Stones: Avebury
Many visitors say a visit to
Avebury
runs from Swindon Station to Avebury,
taking 40 minutes. See
www.stagecoach
bus.com
for timetables. From Salisbury,
take bus no. 5 or 6 to Pewsey, then
change to bus no. 95 or 96. Total jour-
ney time is about 1
1
⁄
2
hours. See
www.
wdbus.co.uk
for timetables. Admission
to the site is free, except June 20 to
22, around the summer solstice, when
it's usually closed.
Also in Avebury is the
Alexander
Keiller Museum
(
&
01672/539250
),
which houses one of Britain's most
important archeological collections,
including material from excavations at
Windmill Hill and Avebury, plus arti-
facts from other prehistoric digs at
West Kennet, Long Barrow, Silbury Hill,
and the Sanctuary. Admission costs
£4.40 for adults, £2.20 children 5-14,
and £12 for a family ticket. It's open
daily, 10am-4:30pm November through
March, 10am-6pm otherwise.
(
&
01672/539250
), one of the most
expansive prehistoric sites in Europe, is
a more organic experience than a trip to
Stonehenge—you can walk right up and
around the stones, as no fence keeps
you away. Also, the site isn't mobbed
with tour buses year-round. Avebury is
spread over an 11-hectare (28-acre) site,
winding in and out of the circle of more
than 100 stones around a village. The
stones are made of sarsen, a sandstone
local to Wiltshire, and some weigh up to
50 tons. Inside this large circle are two
smaller ones, each with about 30 stones
standing upright. Native Neolithic tribes
are believed to have built these circles.
Avebury is on the A4361, between
Swindon and Devizes, 1 mile off the A4.
The closest rail station is at Swindon, 11
miles away, which is served by quarter-
or half-hourly trains from London Pad-
dington Station. Journey time is 55
minutes. An hourly bus service (no. 49)
